Alan Mays' photos

For another early twentieth-century ear-of-corn Thanksgiving postcard, see Thanksgiving Greetings .

Young polar explorers wear warm clothes to celebrate Thanksgiving at "the Pole" in this postcard illustration from 1910. But which pole--North or South? Frederick Cook claimed that he reached the North Pole in 1908, and Robert Peary said that he arrived there in 1909. Around the same time, Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott were attempting to be the first to reach the South Pole. In the 1900s and 1910s, polar expeditions received widespread attention in newspapers and magazines in the same way that the later news media covered the race to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s. The publisher's generic caption about "the Pole" gave the postcard a longer shelf life since it applied equally to whichever direction--North or South--a polar expedition was going. Printed on the other side of the postcard: "Thanksgiving Series No. 10"

"May your Thanksgiving blessings be ripened by a sunshiny heart! H.B.G." A Thanksgiving postcard illustrated by H. B. Griggs (H.B.G.). For other postcards by Griggs, see: -- 'Rah, 'Rah, 'Rah, Thanksgiving!!! -- Were It Not for Friday's Pain -- Thanksgiving Nightmare -- May Love Always Serve Your Thanksgiving Feast Addressed on the other side to Mrs. Laura Pease, 107 Stone St., Spokane, Wash., and postmarked in Charles City, Iowa, on November 14, 1910. Handwritten message: "Have not heard from you for a long time. How are you all. We are all well. I wrote to you two or three weeks ago and got no answer. Love to all. A.J.M." Printed on the verso: "L.&E. Serie 2263."

Handwritten note on the back of this snapshot: "This is me & my flock of 1921 turkey[s]. Just part of the flock." For more turkey photos, see Day of the Turkeys , Turkeys at the Fry Brothers Turkey Ranch, Trout Run, Pa. , and Thanksgiving Season's Greetings .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of appliances—refrigerators, stoves, washing machines, dishwashers, etc. A snapshot of a woman standing next to the stove in her kitchen. In front of her is a dinette set that looks like it might date to the 1950s. The graininess of the photo gives the furnishings a mottled appearance. For some other stoves, see Hooray! Let the Christmas Cooking Begin! and Cooking on the Regal Acorn .

"Thanksgiving Greetings." In this illustration from an early twentieth-century postcard, two turkeys are making their escape in an automobile to avoid being the main attraction at a Thanksgiving Day meal. The postcard is addressed on the other side to Miss Elsie Thornton, Main Street, Fox Chase, Pa., and was postmarked in West Philadelphia, Pa., in November (day and year smudged and unreadable). Handwritten message: "With love, Dot and Lee." Printed on the back: "A.S.B. 290. Made in Germany." See also Thanksgiving Day Fugitives and A Wingless Steed Will Take the Winner to a Fine Thanksgiving Dinner .

"May love always serve your Thanksgiving feast. HBG." A Thanksgiving postcard illustrated by H. B. Griggs (HBG). At first glance, I somehow thought that this was a Valentine's Day postcard with a couple of Cupids who were rather gruesomely melting a heart or maybe trying to fix a broken one . But after I read the sentiment, I realized that they're roasting a turkey rather than a heart, and it's a Thanksgiving Day card instead of a valentine. For another curious Griggs holiday card featuring these Cupid-like putti , see May Love Light Your Halloween Lantern!

A sports teams photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. In this undated snapshot, young men strike a pose for a football team picture. The guys in front look ready to spring into action, but nos. 22, 11, 20, and 99 in back are just standing there motionless. Behind the team is a rickety goal post, and beyond the football field is a cemetery.

Nineteenth-century scrip issued by the company store at the Indiana Iron Works (also know as Baker Furnace ), which was located near Cramer in East Wheatfield Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. For more information, see G. Robert Ganis, "Iron-Mining Store Scrip in Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Geology vol. 19, no. 3 (June 1988) : 2-5. The Store at Indiana Iron Works Will pay to bearer ten cents on demand in dry goods & groceries. Ind. Iron Works. Jan. 1st, 1856. Ten cents. 10. 10.

A photo of trains or train stations for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Men operating a model railroad layout with trains and station, December 10, 1940. Hempfield Station "Bill Gwinn. 1 half of room. H. E. Hanes, op. 203." Back of photo: Handwritten note: "Passenger station & main yards on the Hempfield Terminal R.R. H. E. Hanes is operator at 'Y' tower. Art Dunnell is dispatcher at far left. W. J. B. Gwinn standing near Dunnell." Typed note: "In operation in B&O R.R. Station from Mar 1 1938 until 1955 when disbanded." Stamped date: "Dec 10 1940" Stamped name and address: " W. J. B. Gwinn , 650 Main Street, Bridgeport, Ohio."

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of Watch the skies!—UFOs, airplanes, birds, clouds, or anything else that might be up there . "16645 Morehouse's Comet, Yerkes Observatory." A stereograph of Morehouse's Comet , or Comet Morehouse, which Wikipedia describes as "a bright, non-periodic comet discovered by US astronomer Daniel Walter Morehouse and first observed on September 1, 1908." This stereo card was one in a series of images of the sun, the moon, planets, meteors, and comets published by the Keystone View Company in Meadville, Pennsylvania. For an interesting discussion of these photos, see Carmen Pérez Gonzalez, " From the Observatory to the Classroom: Space Images in the Keystone “600 SET” and “1200 SET ,” International Journal on Stereo & Immersive Media , vol. 1, no. 1 (Oct. 2017): 40-62. See also the text on the back of the stereograph .

The description on the reverse of the Morehouse's Comet stereograph published by the Keystone View Company.

The word "Hallowe'en" in gold letters is barely visible against the dark blue nighttime sky at the top of this postcard. On the ground down below, five young women carrying jack-o'-lanterns and wearing white robes are accompanied by a black cat as they make their way through a scary forest where even the trees and rocks seem to have menacing faces. I'm not sure what to make of this scene. Could these be novice witches on their way to a Halloween initiation where they'll receive their broomsticks and black garments? Or perhaps they're just Halloween partygoers who've gotten lost in an appropriately sinister setting. Unfortunately, the other side of the postcard doesn't provide any clues to explain the illustration. A handwritten message says, "Was at Phila. [Philadelphia] for first time, Oct. 17, 1914, Ida," but otherwise there isn't any address, stamp, or postmark.

"Hallowe'en. HBG." Printed on back: "2215. Printed in Germany." A Halloween postcard illustrated by H. B. Griggs. Other cards in Griggs' 2215 series of postcards show women who are holding a candle and mirror, bobbing for an apple on a string , or tossing an apple peel over a shoulder. Each of those other postcards depict traditional Halloween fortune-telling activities or games intended to reveal the identity of a future husband. I haven't, however, been able to figure out what the woman on this postcard is doing. She appears to be holding her hand over a bowl as steam or smoke rises from it, but I haven't uncovered any descriptions of similar Halloween practices.

Eight years after Alice Graybill and her sisters held their Halloween party at 718 North Plum Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the 1920 United States Federal Census recorded that the Graybills still lived at the same address. Alice was 31 years old in 1920, and she worked as a weaver in a silk mill. The census listed Alice as the owner of the home and the head of the household. There were six family members living at the house on Plum Street that year: -- Alice W. Graybill, 31, single, head of the house, weaver, silk mill -- Susan W. Graybill, 29, sister, weaver, silk mill -- Ada W. Graybill, 27, sister, cleaner, silk mill -- Weidler Graybill, 25, brother, machinist, machine shop -- Marie Graybill, 15, sister, winder, silk mill -- Grace Graybill, 12, sister, no occupation listed So at the time of their Halloween party in 1912, Alice and her sisters would have been about 23, 21, 19, 7, and 4 years old (perhaps they allowed brother Weidler at age 17 to attend, too). Alice eventurally married, and as Alice Graybill Harrington (1888-1969) she lived to the age of 80. For some other early twentieth-century Halloween invitations, see: -- Witches Watch Halloween Party Invitation, October 31, 1914 -- A Halloween Masquerade Invitation! October 23, 1920 -- Greetings for Halloween—Invitation for Revelry on Mystic Halloween, 1923 Yourself and friend are cordially invited to attend A Hallowe'en Party to be given at the home of Alice Graybill and sisters On Thursday evening, October the thirty-first nineteen hundred and twelve No. 718 North Plum Street, Lancaster, Pa. R.S.V.P.

I'm guessing that a masquerade held near the end of the month of October in the year MCMXX (or 1920 in Arabic numerals) would have had something to do with Halloween. One of the classes—juniors, sophomores, or freshmen—at an unidentified high school or college evidently created this invitation to ask the seniors to come to a party "garbed in costumes appropriate for th' occasion." Also, someone used a pencil on the invitation to darken the masquerader's ruffle and add lines to some of the squares in the plaid clothing design. A Masquerade! When? Saturday, October 25, MCMXX at 7:30 o'clock. Where? In the Conference Rm., News Bld'g. Hark, ye seniors: come garbed in costumes appropriate for th' occasion.

A 1923 invitation for a Halloween get-together at the Edwin Forrest House , which was the location of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (now the Moore College of Art and Design ). I haven't been able to determine whether "Amy Lee" and "Mrs. Kuhir" were associated with the school in any way. Greetings for Halloween We invite you to meet with us at Edwin Forrest House at the hour of any o'clock to hold revel on the mystic Hallowe'en. Handwritten note on the back of this postcard: "To Mrs. Kuhir, All good wishes from Amy Lee. 1923." Printed on the back: "Series No. 297, Hallowe'en, 6 designs."

A Halloween dance ticket printed by Landis Art Press, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who used the same decorative half moons on other tickets. See, for instance, Sophomore Barn Party Ticket, East Petersburg, October 27, 1920 and Hell'o'een Masked Dance Ticket, Lancaster, Pa., October 29, 1920 . Masquerade Ball Will be given by the Anniversary Committee of Queen of Sheba Temple No. 137 on Thursday, October 31, 1940 in new Elk's Auditorium, 452 South Duke Street, Lancaster, Pa. Music by Duke Norman. Prizes awarded. Best dressed. Most comic. Admission 55 cents.